This file is an excerpt from the book Initiation Human and Solar, which is available in it

This file is an excerpt from the book Initiation Human and Solar, which
is available in its' entirety from any good metaphysical book store or
from
Lucis Publishing
113 University Place - 11th floor
New York, NY 10003.
BOOKS BY ALICE A. BAILEY
Initiation, Human and Solar
Letters on Occult Meditation
The Consciousness of the Atom
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
The Light of the Soul
The Soul and Its Mechanism
From Intellect to Intuition
A Treatise on White Magic
From Bethlehem to Calvary
Discipleship in the New Age-Vol. I
Discipleship in the New Age-Vol. II
Problems of Humanity
The Reappearance of the Christ
The Destiny of the Nations
Glamour: A World Problem
Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle
The Unfinished Autobiography
Education in the New Age
The Externalisation of the Hierarchy
A Treatise on the Seven Rays:
Vol. I- Esoteric Psychology
Vol. II-Esoteric Psychology
Vol. IFF-Esoteric Astrology
Vol. IV-Esoteric Healing
THE RAYS AND THE INITIATIONS
A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
BY
LUCIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
New York
LUCIS PRESS LTD.
London
COPYRIGHT 1960 BY LUCIS TRUST
Third Printing 1960
The publication of this book is financed by the Tibetan Book Fund
which is established for the perpetuation of the teachings of the
Tibetan and Alice A. Bailey.
This Fund is controlled by the Lucis Trust, a tax-exempt, religious,
educational corporation.
The Lucis Publishing Company is a non-profit organisation owned by
the Lucis Trust. No royalties are paid on this book.
This title is also available in Spanish. Translation into
other languages is proceeding.
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA By Fort
Orange Press, Albany, N. Y.
EXTRACT FROM A STATEMENT BY THE TIBETAN
Suffice it to say, that I am a Tibetan disciple of a certain degree,
and this tells you but little, for all are disciples from the humblest
aspirant up to, and beyond, the Christ Himself. I live in a physical body
like other men, on the borders of Tibet, and at times (from the exoteric
standpoint) preside over a large group of Tibetan lamas, when my other
duties permit. It is this fact that has caused it to be reported that I
am an abbot of this particular lamasery. Those associated with me in
the work of the Hierarchy (and all true disciples are associated in this
work) know me by still another name and office. A.A.B. knows who I
am and recognises me by two of my names.
I am a brother of yours, who has travelled a little longer upon the
Path than has the average student, and has therefore incurred greater
responsibilities. I am one who has wrestled and fought his way into a
greater measure of light than has the aspirant who will read this
article, and I must therefore act as a transmitter of the light, no
matter what the cost. I am not an old man, as age counts among the
teachers, yet I am not young or inexperienced. My work is to teach and
spread the knowledge of the Ageless Wisdom wherever I can find a
response, and I have been doing this for many years. I seek also to help
the Master M. and the Master K.H. whenever opportunity offers, for I
have been long connected with Them and with Their work. In all the
above, I have told you much; yet at the same time I have told you
nothing which would lead you to offer me that blind obedience and the
foolish devotion which the emotional aspirant offers to the Guru and
Master Whom he is as yet unable to contact. Nor will he make that
desired contact until he has transmuted emotional devotion into
unselfish service to humanity -not to the Master.
EXTRACT FROM A STATEMENT BY THE TIBETAN
The books that I have written are sent out with no claim for their
acceptance. They may, or may not, be correct, true and useful. It is for
you to ascertain their truth by right practice and by the exercise of the
intuition. Neither I nor A.A.B. is the least interested in having them
acclaimed as inspired writings, or in having anyone speak of them (with
bated breath) as being the work of one of the Masters. If they present
truth in such a way that it follows sequentially upon that already
offered in the world teachings, if the information given raises the
aspiration and the will-to-serve from the plane of the emotions to that
of the mind (the plane whereon the Masters can be found) then they
will have served their purpose. If the teaching conveyed calls forth a
response from the illumined mind of the worker in the world, and
brings a flashing forth of his intuition, then let that teaching be
accepted. But not otherwise. If the statements meet with eventual
corroboration, or are deemed true under the test of the Law of
Correspondences, then that is well and good. But should this not be so,
let not the student accept what is said.
AUGUST 1934.
THE GREAT INVOCATION
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men -
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
"The above Invocation or Prayer does not belong to any person or
group but to all Humanity. The beauty and the strength of this
Invocation lies in its simplicity, and in its expression of certain central
truths which all men, innately and normally, accept-the truth of the
existence of a basic Intelligence to Whom we vaguely give the name of
Gods the truth that behind all outer seeming, the motivating power of
the universe is Loves the truth that a great Individuality came to earth,
called by Christians, the Christ, and embodied that love so that we
could understands the truth that both love and intelligence are effects
of what is called the Will of God and finally the self-evident truth that
only through Humanity itself can the Divine Plan work out."
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART ONE
FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION
PRELIMINARY REMARKS
INTRODUCTORY STATEMENTS 12
Rule One ... Group Being and Function 25
Role Two ... Accepted as a Group 47
Rule Three ... The Dual Moving Forward 67
Rule Four ... Evocation of the Will 88
Rule Five ... The Macrocosmic Whole 111
Rule Six ... The Group onward moves in Life 124
Rule Seven ... The Word of Invocation 132
Rule Eight ... The Seven, the Three, and the ONE 147
Rule Nine ... The One Initiator 167
Rule Ten ... The Creative Sound of O.M. 178
Rule Eleven ... The Fourth Great Cycle of
Attainment 208
Rule Twelve... Illumined Group Service-Saviourship 225
Rule Thirteen... The Hidden Mystery 247
Rule Fourteen... The Fivefold Demand 285
x TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART TWO 321
THE RAYS AND THE INITIATIONS
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 323
SECTION ONE. THE ASPIRANT AND THE
MYSTERIES OF INITIATION 347
The Entering of the two Doors of Initiation 347
The Door of Initiation 347
The Door to the Way of the Higher Evolution 356
The Entering of the Ashram 366
The seven Groups of Ashrams within the Hierarchy 313
The seven Paths confronting the Master 113
The Path of Earth Service 397
The Path of Magnetic Work 401
The Path of Training for Planetary Logoi 405
Certain Hierarchical Changes 409
The Path to Sirius 413
The Ray Path 419
The Path of the Logos Himself 421
The Path of Absolute Sonship 422
An Extract from A Treatise on Cosmic Fire 425
The World Tension Analysed 428
The Dual Life of the Initiatory Process 431
The Dual Life of the Disciple 434
The Dual Existence of the Master 437
The Science of the Antahkarana 441
Building the Antahkarana 444
The Nature of the Antahkarana 452
The Bridge between the three Aspects of the Mind 457
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Bridge as the Agent of Alignment 470
The Technique of Construction 474
In the Past 477
In the Present 482
The Six Stages of the Building Process 485
The Immediate Task Ahead 497
The Seven Ray Methods 501
The Meaning of the Initiatory Process 530
Fusion of the Master's Consciousness with that
of the Disciple 542
Impression on the Mind of the Disciple of
Hierarchical Intent 549
SECTION TWO. THE ASPIRANT AND THE MAJOR INITIATIONS 556
The Relation of the Seven Rays to the Initiations 557
The Rays and the Five Initiations Confronting Humanity 566
Initiation I The Birth. Ray VII 567
Initiation II The Baptism. Ray VI 575
Initiation IFF The Transfiguration. Ray V 589
Initiation IY The Renunciation. Ray IV 602
The particular Type of Energy involved and
its initiatory Effect 605
The Effect of the Energy of Harmony through
Conflict upon Humanity 611
The Factor of the Ray of Love-Wisdom as it
controls Ray IV 614
The Effect of Ray IY in the modern World of Nations 620
The Results of Fourth Ray Activity upon the
individual Disciple 637
A Summation and Forecast 639
The Rays of Aspect and the Higher Initiations 641
Initiation Y Revelation. Ray I 643
The Effect of Ray I on Humanity today 646
xii TABLE OF CONTENTS
Initiation VI Decision. Ray IFF 653
Initiation VII Resurrection. Ray II 656
Initiation VIFF Transition. Rays IY, Y, VI, VII 656
(The four minor Rays)
Initiation IX The Refusal. Rays I, II, IFF 656
(The three major Rays)
The Seven and the Nine Initiations of our Planetary Life 656
The Significance of the Initiations 661
Initiation I The Birth at Bethlehem 664
Initiation II The Baptism in Jordan 673
Initiation IFF The Transfiguration 687
Initiation IV The Great Renunciation or Crucifixion 692
Initiation V The Revelation 703
The Part which Energy plays in inducing Revelation 708
The Place that the Will plays in the inducing
of Revelation 714
Initiation VI The Decision 718
Initiation VII The Resurrection 729
Initiation VIII The Great Transition 736
Initiation IX The Refusal 736
APPENDIX 739
FIVE GREAT SPIRITUAL EVENTS TODAY 741
STANZAS FOR DISCIPLES 761
INDEX 771
PART ONE
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION
PRELIMINARY REMARKS
It might be here of value, my brothers, if I again laid emphasis upon
the fact that the formless world is only entered when the aspirant has
acquired somewhat the capacity to center himself on the abstract
levels of the mental plane. This involves necessarily certain
developments within the aspirant's own nature. The demanded
contact would otherwise be impossible. What is needed is self-exertion,
the resultant developments of which might be touched upon as follows:
I. The Repolarisation of the Entire Lower Man so that his attitude toward
the aggregate of forms which make up his field of general contact has
changed. He is no longer deluded by the things of the senses but has in
his hand that thread or clue which will eventually guide him out of the
maze of the lower life perceptions into the field of clear knowledge and
the realm where daylight is found; he will then no longer need to walk
in the dark. This repolarisation is brought about in four ways, each of
which provides the next step forward, and in their totality (and when
definitely followed) will eventuate in the total subjugation of the
personality. These four ways are:
A constant and unfailing attempt to center the consciousness within the head.
From this central position the real man, the directing agency will direct
and guide all his members, imposing upon the "lunar lords" of the
physical body a new rhythm and habit of response. Two factors are of
value and helpful in the production of the necessary polarisation:
The reiterated appreciation of the words "I am the Self, the Self am
I."
The habit of early morning meditation wherein the Thinker centers
himself in the point of control and
4 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
starts upon his day's experience and contacts with the realisation that
he is only the Observer, the Perceiver and Actor.
A close consideration throughput the day as to the use and misuse of energy.
Every man should realise that in the use of energy lies direction and
the treading of the Path. It produces eventually truthful manifestation
and the displaying of one's light in order that circumstances may be
irradiated and fellow pilgrims helped. Students should familiarise
themselves with the "energy concept" and learn to regard themselves as
energy units displaying certain types of energy. In this connection it
should be borne in mind that when spiritual energy and material
energy (the two opposite poles) are brought into relationship, a third
type of energy is produced, and the work of the fourth or human
kingdom is to demonstrate this peculiar type. It might serve to clarify
thought if students remembered that
Superhuman entities display spiritual energy.
Subhuman entities display the energy of matter.
Human entities display soul energy.
In the perfect manifestation of these three will the plan of creation be
consummated. It should also be borne in mind that these three are
nevertheless a manifestation of duality-spirit and matter-and that this
is the manifestation of a great Existence and of His appearing.
Therefore, what are called the "three gunas" in Hindu philosophy are
but the qualities He manifests through these types of entities.
Superhuman lives express sattva, the guna of rhythm and of
harmonious response to divine urge, of perfect display of coordinated
cooperation with the purpose of manifestation.
Human lives demonstrate the quality of rajas, of mobility, of constant
and conscious change in order to ascertain what is the Real and
through the medium of experience demonstrate the true nature of
rhythmic response.
Subhuman lives express the guna of tamas or of inertia. They work
blindly and have no ability to respond
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION
5
consciously to the plan. They are the sumtotal of the "units of inertia"
just as the human units are called "the points of light moving within
the square." This may have its appeal to Masons.
This subject of the use or misuse of energy is capable of infinite
expansion, and in my other books where I give you more upon the
centres I have enlarged upon it. I but seek at this time to give you that
which can be of immediate use to students and thus lay the
foundation for later work.
A close study of the needed transmutation of astral and emotional energy into
love, the energy of love. This involves the sublimation of personal feeling
into group realisation or consciousness, and when carried out
successfully produces in time the construction of a higher and subtler
body, the buddhic sheath. When this sheath is thus materialised a
very high stage of advancement is marked, but the earlier stages can
be intelligently approached by any earnest student and probationer. To
transmute emotion into love the following realisations will be found
necessary:
1. A realisation that all moods, all display of sorrow, of pain, or of
happy excitement are due to our identification with the objects of
desire, with the form aspect, and with that which is material.
2. An understanding of the emotional or astral body and the place it
plays in the student's development. It should be recognised as the
shadow of the monad. and a connection should be traced between
The Astral Sheath.... 6th Plane
The Buddhic Sheath... 4th Plane
The Monadic Sheath.. 2nd Plane
and the place the love petals in the egoic lotus play should also be
carefully considered.
3. A comprehension of the potency of the astral sheath owing to its
undivided nature.
4. A study of the purpose of the solar plexus, and the part it plays as
an organ of transference of energy from the three great centres below
the diaphragm to the three higher
6 A Treatise on the Seven Rays
centres. There is a very close analogy here to the solar lotus, the egoic
body, occupying a midway point between the threefold Monad and the
threefold lower man. The more advanced should follow this.
The development of the faculty of mind control so that the Thinker grips
and holds steady the mental processes and learns to regard the mind
as the interpreter of the states of consciousness, as the transmitter of
egoic intent to the physical brain and as the window through which the
Ego, the real Man looks out upon vast and (to the majority) unknown
fields of knowledge.
II. An emergence into Manifestation of the Subjective Aspect in Man. One of
the objects of evolution is that the subjective reality should eventually
be brought forward into recognition. This can be expressed in several
symbolic ways, all of them dealing with the same one fact in nature:
The bringing to the birth of the Christ within.
The shining forth of the inner radiance or glory.
The demonstration of the 2nd or the Love aspect.
The manifestation of the solar Angel.
The appearing of the Son of God, the Ego or the Soul within.
The full expression of buddhi, as it utilises manas.
This emergence into manifestation is brought about through what is
understood by the following terms:
The refining of the bodies which form the casket or sheath hiding the
reality.
The process of 'unveiling' so that one by one those bodies which veil
the Self are brought to a point where they are simply transparencies,
permitting the full shining forth of the divine nature.
An expansion of consciousness, which is brought about through the
ability of the self to identify with its real nature as the Onlooker, and
no longer regarding itself as the organ of perception.
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION
7
IFF. A Re-alignment of the Lower Sheaths so that the contact with the Real
Man, the Thinker, the Solar Angel, on the higher levels of the mental
plane may become complete and continuous. This only becomes
possible as the other two points are beginning to be grasped and the
theory as to man's constitution and purpose is somewhat understood.
As meditation is practiced, as the lower bodies are painstakingly
dominated, and as the nature of the Sutratma or Thread is better
comprehended it will become increasingly possible to bring into the
lower personality on the physical plane that spiritual illumination and
that divine energy which is the soul's heritage. Little by little the light
will shine forth, year by year the strength of the higher contact will
grow, gradually the downpour of divine love and wisdom into the head
centres will be increased until eventually the entire lower man will be
transformed, his sheaths will be refined, controlled and used, and he
will demonstrate upon earth the powers of Director, Teacher or
Manipulator according to the major ray upon which his Monad may be
found.
IY. A Series of Tests Leading to Initiation. When a man is beginning to
demonstrate the qualities of his ray and to prove of gradually
increasing importance to his group, he will be prepared through tests,
through trials, and through temptations for those final stages in
development which will put into his power:
The knowledge of certain laws governing matter and form.
The keys of the mysteries connected with energy, with polarity, and
with group relation.
Certain Words of Power which will give him control over the elemental
forces of nature.
Insight into the planetary plans.
Upon these I need not enlarge, nor need I take up with you here the
subject of initiation. (Discipleship in the New Age, Volumes I and II).
The first work to be done is the stimulating
8 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
of aspirants and the preparing of the few earnest ones to tread the
Path of Discipleship. The final point of our theme concerns:
Y. The Basic Essentials of Pure Character. This is something more than
just being good. It deals with the matter aspect and has relation to the
hold or control that the form has over the man. We might express it
this way and therefore give its more occult connotation. If one or other
of the three lower elementals (the physical, the astral and the mental)
are the controlling factors in the life of the man, he is-by that very
fact-put into a position of danger and should take steps to arrest that
control prior to an attempt to enter into the formless realm. The
reason for this will be apparent. Under the governing law of matter,
the law of Economy, the elemental life will attract to itself similar lives
and this will result in a dual danger. These dangers are:
One: the gathering into the form, through the dominant note
sounded by the form elemental, of matter with a synchronous
vibration. This will tend to increase the magnitude of the task before
the Ego and sweep into increasing dominance the lower man. The
"lunar lords" will become increasingly powerful and the solar Lord
correspondingly less august.
Two: the man will find himself surrounded in time with
thoughtforms of a lower order (from the standpoint of the soul) and
before he can penetrate into the Arcana of Wisdom and find his way
into the Master's world he will have to dispel the clouds of
thoughtforms which he has attracted to himself.
Unless the disciple learns that aspiration and self-discipline must
proceed side by side, he will find that the spiritual energy he may
appreciate and contact will only serve to stimulate the latent seeds of
evil in his nature and thereby demonstrate the exactitude of the truth
that the great Lord taught when He pictured the man who swept his
house, cast out seven devils and eventually was in a worse condition
than ever. It is essential that aspirants should
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION
9
understand the nature of the lower man and should grasp the fact
that every coherent system has its varying types of energy, and that
perfection is achieved when the highest type of energy inherently
possible dominates.
If the lower energy of the aggregate of the form-atoms is the
controlling factor three things will take place:
1. The form itself will grow by accretion and will become ever more
potent, until the dominant voice of its 'lunar lords' will stifle all other
voices and the man be swept back into
Inertia
Blindness
Bondage
2. Many people are not only under the control of some one or other of
their forms but are the captives of all the three. In studying the lower
threefold man and the energies or lives that seek to control him it
should be remembered that they fall into three categories:
a. The individual tiny lives which we call the atoms or cells of the
body. These exist in three groups and compose respectively the four
types of bodies: dense physical, etheric, astral and mental.
b. The aggregate of these lives which constitute in themselves four
types of elementals or separate coherent, though not self-conscious,
existences. These four lunar lords constitute what the Ageless Wisdom
teaching calls "the four sides of the square." They are the "lower
quaternary," "the imprisoning cubes," or the cross upon which the inner
spiritual Man is to be crucified. These four elementals have an
intelligence all their own, are upon the involutionary arc, are following
the law of their own being when they tend to become powerful, and
thereby fully express that which is in them.
c. A dominant controlling lunar lord who is that which we
understand by the term the 'lower personality'; he (if the personal
pronoun can be used) is the sumtotal of the physical, astral and mental
elementals, and it
10 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
is this power which at present forces the 'fiery energies' of the body
to feed the lower three centres. The etheric body has a unique and
curious position, being simply the vehicle for prana or life and the
centre which it uses exists in a category by itself.
3. All subhuman forms in their aggregate prove a powerful deterrent
factor in the progress towards emancipation of the Real Man. They
form the opposite to what we understand by the world of the Master
and the two are in direct opposition to each other from the standpoint
of the aspirant.
The adept can enter the world of form, can contact it, work in it and
remain unaffected by it because there is nothing in him to respond to
it. He sees through the illusion to the reality behind and, knowing
where he stands himself, there is naught in the appeal and the
demand of these lunar lords to attract him. He stands midway
between the pairs of opposites. In the realisation of the nature of this
world of form, in a comprehension of the lives which compose it, and in
an ability to hear the voice of the "formless One" above the strife of all
the lower voices, comes the opportunity for the aspirant to escape from
the dominance of matter.
This is the true magical work, my brothers, the understanding of the
sounds of all beings, and the ability to speak the language of the soul is
the clue to the work. These faculties rightly used impose upon these
lesser lives that control which will lead to the final liberation, and
which will in due time, lead these lives themselves into the realm of
self-consciousness. This aspect of the matter is as yet but little
comprehended by the sons of men. If they but realised that by a
disposition to fall under lunar control they drive the tiny lives in their
little system deeper into the darkness of ignorance, they might more
rapidly assume their just responsibilities; if they realised that by the
constant attempt to impose the rhythm of the solar Lord upon the
aggregate of the lunar lords, they were driving these lives onward to
self-conscious unfoldment, they might proceed more earnestly and
more intelligently. This is the message that must
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 11
go forth, for all the varying aspects of the life of God are
interdependent and not one proceeds onward into fuller realisation
without benefitting the entire group.
A few simple suggestions I will give you. These can be useful to all
sincere aspirants.
In the ordered regulation of the life comes eventual synthesis and
the right control of time with all that eventuates therefrom.
In the right elimination of that which is secondary, and in a sense
of rightly adjusted proportion comes that accuracy and
one-pointedness which is the hallmark of the occultist.
In the right aspiration at the appointed time comes the necessary
contact and the inspiration for the work that has to he done.
In the steady adherence to self appointed rules comes the gradual
refining of the instrument and the perfecting of the vehicles that will
be-to the Master-the medium of help among many little ones.
I commend the above thought to you knowing that you will apprehend
the implications and will seriously consider the purport of my remarks.
The world today is in the throes of agony. Just as in the evolving
ego, the moment of greatest development is oft the moment of greatest
pain (if apprehension measure up to opportunity) so in the evolving
world. To those of you who have the inner sight and intuitive
comprehension comes the opportunity to aid that apprehension and to
lead a despairing world-deep cast into darkness and distress-one step
nearer to the light. The work you have to do is to take the knowledge
which is yours and adjust its application to the world's need so that
recognition of the truth may be rapid. In the heart of every man lies hid
the flower of the intuition. On that you can depend, and no eternal or
cosmic fact clothed in a suitable form will fail to receive its need of
recognition and understanding.
INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
I have called you from refreshment to labour at this time (October
1942) because the coming few days are exceedingly busy ones for me as
they are for all members of the Hierarchy. I seek to give you some
further instructions anent the Hierarchy itself.* Students at this time
would do well to remember that all basic and fundamental changes
taking place upon the physical plane are necessarily the result of inner
subjective causes, emanating from some level of the divine
consciousness, and therefore from some plane other than the physical.
The fact that tremendous and unusual upheavals are taking place in
the kingdoms of nature is attributed by men to other men or to certain
forces generated by human thinking, frailty and ambition.
Is it not possible that these changes are being brought about as
the result of certain profoundly important happenings upon inner
planes of such advanced states of consciousness that all the average
disciple can know about them is their word symbols and their much
deleted effects-if I may use such a phrase to describe the happenings
which area rending humanity today. The evil that is being wrought
today on earth, by certain evil members of the human family, are
effects of their response to the inflowing energies and indicate their
basic wickedness and their prompt reaction to that which is counter to
the good. Wherever the consciousness is focussed, these is the point of
major emphasis and importance, and this is true of the individual man
and of humanity as a whole. The significance of the present
happenings is interpreted (and necessarily so) in terms of human
awareness and responsiveness. This world war and its inevitable
consequences-good and bad-are looked upon as concerned primarily
with humanity, whereas that is not
* This teaching is the continuation of that which appears in Discipleship
ib the New Age, Volume I, pp. 671-773.
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION
13
basically so. Humanity suffers and experiences as a result of the inner
occurrences and the meeting of subjective forces and inflowing
energies.
It is of course not possible for me to give you any true picture of the
interior events and happenings in the life of our planetary Being. I can
Only indicate and point out that the world situation is simply an
embodiment of the reaction and the response by mankind to great
paralleling and originating happenings which involve the following
groups:
1. The emanating Avatar and His relationship to the Lord of the
World, our planetary Logos.
2. The Lords of Liberation, focussed in Their high place, as They
become conscious of the invocation of humanity and become more
closely related to the three Buddhas of Activity.
3. The Great Council at Shamballa and the planetary Hierarchy.
4. The Buddha and His Arhats as They unitedly cooperate with
the Christ and His disciples, the Masters of the Wisdom.
5. The Hierarchy, the embodiment of the fifth kingdom in nature,
and its magnetic attractive rapport with the human kingdom, the
fourth.
6. The effect of all these great groups of Lives upon humanity,
and the inherent consequences as they work out in the subhuman
kingdoms.
A study of the above in terms of forces and energy will give some idea of
the underlying synthesis of relationships and the unity of the whole.
There is therefore a line of descending energy which has its origin
outside our planetary life altogether; the inflow of this energy, its
inevitable effect under cyclic law and its consequences, as they work
out upon the physical plane, has produced and is producing all the
changes of which mankind is so terribly aware at this time. This
swings into immediate conflict the past and the future, and in this
statement I have expressed the deepest esoteric truth which mankind
14 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
is competent to grasp: it brings into a culminating struggle the Great
White Lodge and the Black Lodge and opens the door to great
contending energies which we can call spirit and matter, spirituality
and materialism, or life and death. These words are, in the last
analysis, as meaningless as the terms good and evil, which have
significance only in the human consciousness and its inherent
limitations.
These descending energies, as they pass through any of the major
levels of consciousness which we call planes, produce reactions and
responses, dependent upon the state of the conditioning consciousness,
and (strange as this may seem to you and well-nigh unintelligible) the
effects upon the Hierarchy are even more compelling and transmuting
than they are upon humanity. I would add also that the point of lowest
descent of the energies has now been reached, and the nature of the
present opportunity is therefore changing. These energies have now
passed what we might call the turning point and have reached their
point of ascension, with all that that phrase implies. As they descend,
they produce stimulation as they ascend, they produce transmutation
and abstraction, and the one effect is as unalterable as the other. It is
upon this inevitability of the ascending energies, and the effects which
they will bring about, that the entire hope of the future depends
nothing can arrest their return or their progress through the planes
and back again to their source. Upon this dual process of descent and
ascension the whole cyclic panorama of manifestation rests, and upon
the inflow and activity of new and higher energies the whole fact of the
evolutionary process depends.
It will therefore be apparent to you that the descent of energy brings
with it-under the cyclic law-certain new "inspirations," certain new
"seeds of hope" for the future, and certain active Agents as well, Who
are and will be responsible for the task of preparation, of fertilisation
and of all the coming new age enterprises. These descending energies
evoke also the obstructing forces, and I would here remind you that
these obstructing evil forces (so-called) are
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 15
met with upon the highest spiritual levels because they are-in their
turn-evoked by the impelling impact of the coming Avatar Whose "note
is heard ahead of Him, and His energy spreads before Him." This is a
great mystery and can only be understood (and then merely
theoretically) if you bear in mind that all our planes-even the very high-
est-are the subplanes of the cosmic physical plane. When this fact is
somewhat grasped there comes a simplification of thought.
As a consequence of all this, great and fundamental readjustments
are going on within the Hierarchy itself and within that intervening
area of the divine consciousness to which we give the name (as far as
humanity is concerned) of the Spiritual Triad-an area covered by the
higher mental planes, the buddhic and the atmic levels of awareness
and of divine activity. The downpouring avataric stimulation is
enabling certain of the Masters to take some of the major initiations,
and to do so far earlier than would otherwise have been possible. Thus
a great process of ascension and of spiritual attainment is under way,
though as yet only its faint beginnings can be traced, owing to the
intensity of the point of conflict. Hence also many probationary
disciples are finding their way into the ranks of accepted disciples, and
many disciples are taking initiation. To this fact of hierarchical
upheaval-paralleling and intensifying the upheaval upon the physical
plane-can be traced the process of preparation which I have instituted
among some disciples, thus hastening the period and point of
attainment, provided I receive due cooperation from them. (Discipleship
in the New Age, Vols. I and II.)
As regards the Hierarchy itself, speaking esoterically and
technically, its Members (many of Them) are "being abstracted from
the middle point of holiness and absorbed into the Council of the Lord."
In other words, They are passing onward into higher work and are
becoming custodians of the energy of the divine will and not simply the
custodians of the energy of love. They will work henceforth as
power-units, and not just as units of light. Their work
16 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
becomes dynamic instead of being attractive and magnetic, and is
concerned with the life aspect and not just with the soul or
consciousness aspect. Their places are being taken-under the Law of
Ascension-by Their senior disciples, the initiates in Their Ashrams, and
(under the same great process) the place of these initiates, who are
thus being "raised" to more important work, is being taken by disciples
and probationers. It is this truth, misinterpreted and shockingly
travestied, which lies behind the teaching anent the so-called Ascended
Masters, put out by the leaders of the "I Am" movement, thus
prostituting and bringing down almost into the realm of cheap comedy
one of the most notable happenings which has ever taken place upon
our planet.
There is therefore, owing to the inflow of energy from extra-planetary
sources, a general shifting of the focus of consciousness of embodied
and disembodied lives at this times this shift is one of the prime
factors producing the present disruption. Students today are searching
for the causes in human motives, in past history and in karmic
relationships. To these they add the so-called factor of wickedness. All
these factors of course exist, but are of lesser origin and are inherent in
the life of the three worlds. They are themselves set in motion by far
deeper-seated factors latent in the relationship between spirit and
matter and inherent in the dualism of the solar system, and not in its
triplicity. This dualism, as far as our planet is concerned, is profoundly
affected by the will-purpose of the Lord of the World and by the
intensity of His one-pointed thought. He has succeeded in achieving a
point of tension, preparatory to bringing about stupendous changes in
His life-expression, within His vehicle of manifestation, a planet. This
point of invocation will be evocative of great happenings, and will
involve every aspect of His nature, including the dense physical; this of
necessity involves also all that concerns the human family for "in Him
we live and move and have our being." Those three words or phrases
express the triplicity of manifestation, for "Being" connotes the Spirit
aspect,
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 17
"moving" the soul or consciousness aspect, and "living" signifies
appearance upon the physical plane. Upon that outer plane the basic
synthesis of incarnated life is to be found.
It will be apparent to you, therefore, that in this achievement of
planetary tension it is not life in the three worlds that is the sphere of
this tension, but the realm of hierarchical activity. The shift resulting
from this point of tension, the "moving.' which is its consequence, is in
the realm of soul experience and soul awareness. The secondary effect
can be noted in the human consciousness by the awakening which has
been going on among men-an awakening to the higher spiritual values,
to the trends and ideologies which are everywhere appearing, and to the
clear lines of demarcation which have emerged in the realm of human
determinations and objectives. These are all the results of great
changes in the field of the higher consciousness and are conditioned by
the soul of all things, lying largely in the realm of the anima mundi; of
this great sumtotal the human soul and the spiritual soul are but
aspects or expressions.
It is these changes in the "moving, shifting realities" of the soul
consciousness and spiritual awareness of the Members of the
Hierarchy which are responsible for the new trends in the life of the
Spirit and the new methods in training disciples-in such an
experiment, for instance, as externalising the Ashrams of the Masters.
It is this new approach to life conditions, as a result of the inflow of
new energies, which is producing the universal trend towards group
awareness, and its highest result in the human family is the taking the
first steps towards group initiation. Such a thing as group initiation was
never heard of prior to the present time, except in connection with the
higher initiations emanating from the Shamballa centre. Group initia-
tion is based upon a uniform and united group will, consecrated
towards the service of humanity and based upon loyalty, cooperation
and interdependence. In the past, the emphasis was upon the
individual, his training and approach to initiation, and his solitary
admittance to the Temple
18 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
of Initiation. But this individual concentration will, in the future, give
place to a group condition which will enable several disciples unitedly to
move forward, unitedly to stand before the Initiator, and unitedly and
simultaneously to achieve the great realisation which is the result and
the reward of successful discipleship.
In the first thesis which I presented to the public I outlined the Rules
for Applicants, (Initiation, Human and Solar, pp. 192-208), summarising
the past propositions and indicating the individual preparation and
requirements. These will now apply to the probationary groups of dis-
ciples, and not to accepted disciples. They must and will still remain
the character and purificatory objectives of the dedicated individual,
but are regarded as adequately grasped by humanity, they have been
proclaimed by all the great world religions down the centuries and have
been recognised as the main conditioning qualities of all disciples.
These same Rules or Formulas of Approach are the lower
correspondences of higher rules to which groups of disciples are pledged
to conform, and which they must follow and obey together. The
Hierarchy into which they will enter when full acceptance and
demonstration have been shown will be the same Hierarchy,
characterised by the same soul awareness, animated by the same
spiritual activity, functioning under the same laws, but conditioned by
two progressive and evolutionary developments:
1. A much closer contact-invocative and evocative-with Shamballa,
and therefore a fuller responsiveness to the Will aspect of divinity.
2. An invocative attitude on the part of humanity, based on a
fundamental decentralisation of the selfish human consciousness and
a rapidly awakening group consciousness.
In reality, this means that the Hierarchy will be more closely related to
the Great Council at Shamballa, and very much more closely
interrelated with humanity, so that a dual fusion will be taking place.
This will bring about that integrative
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 19
process which will be the quality of the New Age and will inaugurate
the Aquarian phase of planetary history.
I would now like to bring into a close relation the earlier imparted
Rules for Applicants and the new Rules for Disciples, embodying the new
group activity and group discipleship, resulting in group initiation.
These Rules are fourteen in number. Today I will simply give you,
first of all the rule for the individual disciple, and then its higher
corresponding rule for groups in preparation for group initiation,
reminding you that such groups are ever composed of those who have
taken the first initiation, and the name of these is legion. They are to
be found in every country. There are not, however, so many who are
ready for the new era of group initiation.
Rule I.
For Applicants: Let the disciple search within the heart's deep cave.
If there the fire burns bright, warming his brother yet heating not
himself, the hour has come for making application to stand before the
door.
For Disciples and Initiates: Within the fire of mind, focussed within
the head's clear light, let the group stand. The burning ground has done
its work. The clear cold light shines forth and cold it is and yet the
heat-evoked by the group love-permits the warmth of energetic moving
out. Behind the group there stands the Door. Before them opens out
the Way. Together let the band of brothers onward move-out of the fire,
into the cold, and toward a newer tension.
Rule Il.
For Applicants: When application has been made in triple form, then
let the disciple withdraw that application and forget it has been made.
For Disciples and Initiates: The Word has now gone forth from the
great point of tension: Accepted as a group. Withdraw not now your
application. You could not, if you
20 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
would; but add to it three great demands and forward move. Let there
be no recollection and yet let memory rule. Work from the point of all
that is within the content of the group's united life.
Rule IFF.
For Applicants: Triple the call must be and long it takes to sound it
forth. Let the disciple sound the call across the desert, over all the seas
and through the fires which separate him from the veiled and hidden
door.
For Disciples and Initiates: Dual the moving forward. The Door is left
behind. That is a happening of the past. Let the cry of invocation issue
forth from the deep centre of the group's clear cold light. Let it evoke
response from the bright centre, lying far ahead. When the demand
and the response are lost in one great SOUND, move outward from the
desert, leave the seas behind and know that God is Fire.
Rule IY.
For Applicants: Let the disciple tend the evocation of the fire, nourish
the lesser lives and thus keep the wheel revolving.
For Disciples and Initiates: Let the group see that all the eighteen fires
die down and that the lesser lives return unto the reservoir of life. This
they must bring about through the evocation of the Will. The lesser
wheels must not for aye revolve in time and space. Only the greater
Wheel must onward move and turn.
Rule Y.
For Applicants: Let the applicant see to it that the Solar Angel dims the
light of the lunar angels, remaining the sole luminary in the
microcosmic sky.
For Disciples and Initiates: In unison let the group perceive the Triad
shining forth, dimming the light of the soul and blotting out the light of
form. The macrocosmic Whole is all there is. Let the group perceive
that Whole and then no longer use the thought "My soul and thine."
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 21
Rule VI.
For Applicants: The purificatory fires bum dim and low when the third
is sacrificed to the fourth. Therefore let the disciple refrain from
taking life and let him nourish that which is lowest with the produce of
the second.
For Disciples and Initiates: Let the group know that life is one and
naught can ever take or touch that life. Let the group know the vivid,
flaming, drenching Life that floods the fourth when the fifth is known.
The fifth feeds on the fourth. Let then the group-merged in the fifth-
be nourished by the sixth and seventh and realise that all the lesser
rules are rules in time and space and cannot hold the group. It onward
moves in life.
Rule VII.
For Applicants: Let the disciple turn his attention to the enunciating
of those sounds which echo in the hall where walks the Master. Let
him not sound the lesser notes which awaken vibration within the
halls of Maya.
For Disciples and Initiates: Let the group life emit the Word of
invocation and thus evoke response within those distant Ashrams
where move the Chohans of the race of men. They are no longer men
as are the Masters but having passed beyond that lesser stage, have
linked Themselves with the Great Council in the highest Secret Place.
Let the group sound a dual chord, reverberating in the halls where
move the Masters but finding pause and prolongation within those
radiant halls where move the Lights which carry out the Will of God.
Rule VIFF.
For Applicants: When the disciple nears the Portal, the greater seven
must awaken and bring forth response from the lesser seven upon the
double circle.
For Disciples and Initiates: Let the group find within itself response to
the greater seven groups which carry out the hierarchical will with love
and understanding. The group contains all seven, the perfect group.
The lesser seven,
22 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
the greater seven and the planetary seven form one great whole, and
these the group must know. When this is realised and the Law of the
Supplementary Seven is understood let the group understand the Three
and then the ONE. This they can do with the united breath and the
unified rhythm.
Rule IX.
For Applicants: Let the disciple merge himself within the circle of
the other selves. Let but one colour blend them and their unity appear.
Only when the group is known and sensed can energy be wisely
emanated.
For Disciples and Initiates: Let the group know there are no other
selves. Let the group know there is no colour, only lights and then let
darkness take the place of light, hiding all difference, blotting out all
form. Then-at the place of tension, and at that darkest point-let the
group see a point of clear cold fire, and in the fire (right at its very
heart) let the One Initiator appear Whose star shone forth when the
Door first was passed.
Rule X.
For Applicants: The Army of the Voice, the devas in their serried
ranks work ceaselessly. Let the disciple apply himself to a
consideration of their methods let him learn the rules whereby the
Army works within the veils of maya.
For Disciples and Initiates: The rules for work within the veils of
maya are known and have been used. Let the group widen all the rents
within those veils and thus let in the light. Let the Army of the Voice
be no more heard and let the brothers onward move within the Sound.
Then let them know the meaning of the O.M. and let them hear that
O.M. as it is Sounded forth by Him Who stands and waits at the very
centre of the Council Chamber of the Lord. Rule XI.
For Applicants: Let the disciple transfer the fire from the lower
triangle to the higher and preserve that which is created through the
fire at the midway point.
For Disciples and Initiates: Let the group together move the fire
within the Jewel in the Lotus into the Triad and
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 22
let them find the Word which will carry out that task. Let them
destroy by their dynamic Will that which has been created at the
midway point. When the point of tension is reached by the brothers at
the fourth great cycle of attainment, then will this work be done.
Rule XII.
For Applicants: Let the disciple learn to use the hand in service; let
him seek the mark of the Messenger in his feet and let him learn to see
with the eye which looks out from between the two.
For Disciples and Initiates: Let the group serve as Aquarius indicates;
let Mercury speed the group upon the upward Way and let Taurus bring
illumination and the attainment of the vision; let the mark of the
Saviour, as the group toils in Pisces, be seen above the aura of the
group. Rule XIFF.
For Applicants: Four things the disciple must learn and comprehend
before he can be shown the inmost mystery: first, the laws of that
which radiates; the five meanings of magnetisation make the second;
the third is transmutation or the secret lost of alchemy; and lastly, the
first letter of the Word which has been imparted, or the hidden name
egoic.
For Disciples and Initiates: Let the group get ready to reveal the hidden
mystery. Let the group demonstrate the higher meaning of the lessons
learnt, and these are four and yet are one. Let the group understand
the Law of Synthesis, of unity and fusion; let the threefold mode of
working with that which is dynamic carry the group together towards
the Higher Three where the Will of God holds sway; let Transfiguration
follow Transformation and may Transmutation disappear. Let the
O.M. be heard right at the centre of the group, proclaiming God is All.
Rule XIY.
For Applicants: Listen, touch, see, apply, know.
For Disciples and Initiates: Know, express, reveal, destroy and resurrect.
24 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
These are the rules for group initiation and I am dealing with them to
give you a fuller understanding of the Laws of Group Life with which I
dealt in some of my other books.
I will take these rules and expound for you somewhat of their
meaning and indicate their significances as far as these can be grasped
now. These instructions are written for future disciples towards the
end of this century. They form part of the last volume of A Treatise on
the Seven Rays and will, therefore, go out to the general public who will
not understand, but thus the needed teaching will be preserved.
RULE ONE
We now begin our study of the fourteen rules for those who are
seeking initiation, in one or other of its degrees. In Initiation, Human and
Solar I gave the rules for those proposing to enter the grades of
discipleship. I would like for a minute to deal with the significance of
the word "Rule" and give you some idea of its occult meaning. There is
much difference between a Law, an Order or Command, and a Rule,
and these distinctions should be pondered with care. The Laws of the
universe are simply the modes of expression, the life impulses and the
way of existence or activity of the One in Whom we live and move and
have our being. There is no avoiding these laws in the last analysis, and
there is no denying them, for we are eternally swept into activity by
them and they govern and control (from the angle of the Eternal Now)
all that happens in time and space. Orders and commands are the
feeble interpretations which men give to what they understand by law.
In time and space, and at any given moment and in any given location,
these commands are issued by those who are in a position of authority
or who seem to dominate or are in a position to enforce their wishes.
Laws are occult and basic. Orders are indicative of human frailty and
limitation.
Rules are, however, different. They are the result of tried experience
and of age-long undertakings and-assuming neither the form of laws
nor the limitations of a command-they are recognised by those for
whom they exist and hence evoke from them a prompt intuitive
response. They need no enforcement but are voluntarily accepted, and
are put to trial in the belief that the witness of the past and the
testimony of the ages warrant the effort required for the expressed
requirements.
This is true of the fourteen Rules which we are now going to study. I
would remind you that only the initiate consciousness will truly
comprehend their significance, but
25
26 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
also that your effort so to do will develop in you the beginning of that
initiate consciousness, provided you seek to make practical and
voluntary application of these rules in your daily lives. They are
susceptible of three forms of application-physical, emotional and
mental-and of a fourth application which is best designated by the
words "the response of the integrated personality to soul interpretation
and understanding."
Another point which I would call to your attention, prior to interpreting
this rule, is that your group endeavour must be to seek group
application, group meaning and group light. I would emphatically
emphasise the words "group light." We are dealing, therefore, with
something basically new in the field of occult teaching, and the
difficulty of intelligent comprehension is consequently great. The true
significances are not the simple ones which appear upon the surface.
The words of these rules would seem to be almost tritely familiar. If
they meant exactly what they appear to mean, there would be no need
for me to be giving hints as to their underlying significances and ideas.
But they are not so simple.
To sum up, therefore: these Rules are to be read with the aid of a
developing esoteric senses they are related to group initiation in spite of
their having individual applications they are not what they appear to be
on the surface-trite truisms and spiritual platitudes but they are rules
for initiation which, if followed, will take the disciple and the group
through a major spiritual experiences they embody the techniques of
the New Age, which necessitate group activity, group procedure and
united action. Earlier I said that these rules are the result of tried
experience, and my use of the word "new" in this connotation is related
to human knowledge but not to the initiatory procedure. That has
always existed and always, at the great crises of initiation, disciples
have moved forward in groups, even though they have not been aware
of so doing. Now disciples can become so aware, and the various ray
ashrams will not only present their groups (large or small) to the
Initiator, but the personnel of
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 27
these groups will now be aware of the fact of group presentation. They
will also have to grasp the fact of the extent of their knowledge being
dependent upon their decentralisation. I would ask you to ponder and
reflect upon this last statement.
Let us now proceed to a consideration of Rule I.
Rule I.
Within the fire of mind, focussed within the head's clear light, let the group
stand. The burning ground has done its work. The clear cold light shines forth
and cold it is and let the heat-evoked by the group love-permits the warmth of
energetic moving out. Behind the group there stands the Door. Before them opens out
the Way. Together let the band of brothers onward move-out of the fire, into the
cold, and toward a newer tension.
It will be profitable if we take this Rule I sentence by sentence and try
to wrest from each its group significance.
1. Within the fire of the mind, focussed within the head's clear light, let the
group stand.
In this sentence, you have the idea of intellectual perception and of
focussed unity. Intellectual perception is not mental understanding,
but is in reality the clear cold reason, the buddhic principle in action
and the focussed attitude of the Spiritual Triad in relation to the
personality. I would call your attention to the following analogies:
Head Monad Atma
Purpose
Heart Soul Buddhi Pure
reason
Base of spine Personality Manas Spiritual activity
In these words you have, therefore, the position of the personality
indicated as it stands at the penetrating point of the antahkarana as it
contacts the manas or lower mind and is thus the agent of the purpose
of the Monad, working through the Spiritual Triad which is-as you
know-related to the personality by the antahkarana.
The heart as an aspect of pure reason requires careful consideration.
It is usually considered the organ of pure love
28 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
but-from the angle of the esoteric sciences-love and reason are
synonymous terms, and I would have you reflect upon why this should
be. Love is essentially a word for the underlying motive of creation.
Motive, however, presupposes purpose leading to action, and hence in
the grouplife task of the incarnating Monad there comes a time when
motive (heart and soul) becomes spiritually obsolete because purpose
has reached a point of fulfillment and the activity set in motion is such
that purpose cannot be arrested or stopped. The disciple cannot then
be deterred, and no hindrance or difficulty is hard enough to prevent
his moving forward. Then we have eventual destruction of what Theo-
sophists call the causal body and the establishing of a direct relation
between the Monad and its tangible expression upon the physical plane.
The head centre and the centre at the base of the spine will be in direct
unimpeded relation; monadic will and personality will likewise will be in
a similar unimpeded relation, via the antahkarana. I would have you
remember that the will aspect is the final dominating principle.
In the group application of these ideas the same basic and profound
development must take place, and a group of disciples must be
distinguished by pure reason, which will steadily supersede motive,
merging eventually into the will aspect of the Monad-its major aspect.
It is, technically speaking, Shamballa in direct relation with humanity.
What, therefore, is the group will in any ashram or Master's group?
Is it present in any form vital enough to condition the group relations
and to unite its members into a band of brothers-moving forward into
the light? Is the spiritual will of the individual personalities of such
strength that it negates the personality relation and leads to spiritual
recognition, spiritual interplay and spiritual relation. It is only in
consideration of these fundamental effects of standing as a group in
"the head's clear light" that it is permissible for disciples to bring into
the picture personal sensitivities and thought, and this only because of
a group temporary limitation.
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 29
What is it, therefore, which prevents a disciple-as an individual-from
having direct approach and direct contact with the Master without
being dependent upon an intermediary? Let me illustrate: In the group
I have under training (Discipleship in the New Age, Vols. I and ll) two or
three have direct approach and others have it but know it note still
others are well intentioned and hard driving disciples, but never for a
second do they forget themselves; one has had a problem of glamour
but now is preoccupied with the problem of spiritual ambition-a
spiritual ambition which is working through a very small personality-
some could make rapid progress but are too prone to inertia-perhaps I
could say that they do not care enough. Each of them (and every other
disciple) can place himself. All of them desire to move forward and
possess a strong inner spiritual life-hence my finding the time to work
with them. But the group antahkarana is still incomplete and the
aspect of pure reason and of the heart does not control. The evocative
power of the Spiritual Triad is not, therefore, adequate to hold the
personality steady and the invocative power of the personality is
non-existent-speaking from the angle of the group personalities which
make up the personality aspect of the ashram. This is a factor with
which they oft feel I have not to deal. It can only become a potent
factor if certain personality relations are adjusted and inertia is
overcome. Then and only then can "the group stand."
5. The burning ground has done its work.
Here there is quite apt to be misunderstanding. To most people the
burning ground stands for one of two things:
a. Either the fire of the mind, burning up those things in the lower
nature of which it becomes increasingly aware.
b. Or the burning ground of sorrow, agony, horror and pain which is
the characteristic quality of life in the three worlds, particularly at this
time.
But the burning found referred to here is something
30 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
very different. When the blazing light of the sun is correctly focussed
on or through a glass it can cause ignition. When the blazing light of
the Monad is focussed directly upon the personality, via the
antahkarana and not specifically through the soul, it produces a
blazing fire which burns up all hindrances in a steady, sequential
process. Wording it otherwise, when the will aspect streams from the
Monad and focusses through the personal will (as the mind can grasp
and realise it) it destroys as by fire all elements of self-will. As the
energy of Shamballa streams out and makes a direct contact with
humanity (omitting the transmission via the Hierarchy, which has
hitherto been customary), you have what has been seen in the world
today, a destructive conflagration or a world burning ground. When the
antahkarana of a group is rightly constructed, then the individualised
group-will will disappear in the full consciousness of the monadic
purpose or clear directed will. These are points which the disciple pre-
paring for initiation has to consider as he prepares for the higher
initiations, and these are the points which any group or ashram in
preparation for initiation has also to consider.
The secret of the higher initiations lies in the trained use of the
higher will. It does not lie in purification or in self-discipline or in any
of the expedients which have acted in the past as interceptors of the
truth. This whole problem of the Shamballic will is in process of
revelation, and will eventually alter the entire approach of the disciple
in the New Age to initiation. The theme of "the Way into Shamballa"
requires reflective study and esoteric understanding. fn this concept of
the new and future section (if I may so call it) of the Way or Path with
which the modern disciple is faced lies the secret of the coming
revelation and of the spiritual dispensation which will emerge as
humanity constructs the new world civilisation and begins to formulate
the new culture. The burning, purifying, destructive effects of the
monadic will upon its distorted reflection, the individual will, deeply
deserves consideration.
For long, aspirants have noted and have been taught the effect of
the will upon the astral, or emotional body. It
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 31
is one of the primary and most elementary of the initial tensions, and
is taught upon the Probationary Path. It leads to the purifying and the
re-organising of the entire psychic and emotional life, as the result of
its destructive action. "If you will only think," "if you will only use a
little will," and "if you will only remember that you have a mind," we say
to the children of the race and to beginners upon the Path of conscious
Return. Little by little, then, the focus and the orientation shift out of
the astral life and from the emotional level of consciousness into the
mental, and consequently into the reflection of the world of purpose,
found in the three worlds. When that stage has been somewhat de-
veloped, then there follows, upon the Path of Discipleship and of
preparation for initiation, an effort to grasp and understand the higher
aspects of this mental process, and the will aspect of the egoic life
begins to influence the disciple. The "petals of sacrifice" unfold and the
sacred sacrificial aspect of life is revealed in its beauty, purity.
simplicity and in its revolutionising quality.
Upon the Path of Initiation, the monadic will (of which the egoic
will is the reflection and the individual self-will is the distortion) is
gradually transmitted, via the antahkarana, direct to the man upon
the physical plane. This produces the higher correspondence of those
qualities so glibly spoken of by the well-trained but dense
esotericist-transmutation and transformation. The result is the
assimilation of the individual will and the egoic will into the purpose of
the Monad which is the purpose-undeviating and unalterable-of the
One in Whom we live and move and have our being. This is the field of
the true burning, for our "God is a consuming Fire." This is the burning
bush or the burning tree of life of Biblical symbolism. This highest of
all the fires, this deeply spiritual and hitherto seldom recognised
burning-ground, has its effects summed up for us in the next phrase or
sentence of Rule I.
3. The clear cold light shines forth and cold it is and yet the heat-evoked by the
group love-permits the warmth of energetic moving out.
32 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
In these words you have the key to group initiation. The light of the
higher initiations can stream in when it is evoked by the group love.
That light is clear and cold, but produces the needed "heat," which is a
symbolic word used in many of the world Scriptures to express living,
spiritual energy. I said "spiritual energy" and not soul force, and herein
lies a distinction which you will some day have to grasp.
This group love is based upon the egoic aspect of the will to which we
give the name "sacrificial love." This does not connote happy
relationships between individual members of the group. It might,
presumably, lead to unhappy outer, superficial interplay, but basically
it leads to an unalterably staunch loyalty, underlying the surface of the
outer life. The Master's influence, as He seeks to aid His disciple,
always produces transitory turmoil-transitory from the angle of the
soul, but frequently appalling from the angle of the personality.
Similarly, the projection of the life and influence of any senior disciple
into the periphery or aura of the aspirant or lesser disciple is-in its
degree-likewise disturbing and upsetting; this is a point which should
be carefully borne in mind, both as regards the disciple's own reactions
and training, and as regards any effect which he may call forth in the
life of a probationary disciple or lesser disciple in his own sphere of
influence. These intrusive influences and their consequent effects
which are produced upon an individual or a group by a Master or a
senior disciple are usually interpreted in personality terms, and are very
little understood. They are nevertheless aspects of the higher will in
some higher disciple and are beating upon the personality will and
evoking the sacrificial will of the Ego, and hence lead to a period of
temporary discomfort. This the aspirant and the inexperienced disciple
resent and blame the evoking sources for their discomfort, instead of
learning the needed lesson of receiving and handling force.
Where, however, real love exists, it will produce the lessening of the
personality will, the evocation of the sacrificial egoic will, and a
constantly growing capacity to identify
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 33
the group with the will or purpose of the Monad. The progress of the
group is, therefore, from one burning ground to another-each burning
ground being colder and clearer than the preceding one but producing
sequentially the burning fire, the clear cold lighted fire, and the
consuming divine fire.
Thus in parables the truth goes out, and gradually the initiate
grasps the uses of heat, warmth, light and energy; he arrives at an
understanding of self-will, sacrificial will and Shamballic purpose, and
only Love (self-love, group love, and finally, divine love) can reveal the
significance of these symbolic words and the occult paradoxes which
confront the true aspirant as he attempts to tread the Way.
As we continue our studies of the rules to be followed by those
receiving initiate-training, I would remind you of certain things, some
of them already touched upon but requiring re-emphasis. Any
usefulness which these Rules may have for you will be dependent upon
your grasping a few basic ideas and then proceeding to make them
factual as far as in you lies.
First, I would call your attention to what should be the basic
attitude of the would-be initiate: It should be one of purpose, governed by pure
reason and working out in spiritual activity. That is a sentence easily
written, but what specifically does it convey to you? Let me enlarge
upon it somewhat. The attitude of the initiate-in-training should be
one of right spiritual motive-the motive being the intelligent fulfillment
of the will aspect of divinity, or of the Monad. This involves the merging
of his personality self-will into that of the sacrificial will of the soul;
and this, when accomplished, will lead to the revelation of the divine
Will. Of this Will, no one who is not an initiate has any concep tion. It
means, secondly, the release of the faculty of spiritual perception and
of intuitive understanding, which involves the negation of the activity
of the lower or concrete mind, of the lower personal self, and the
subordination of the knowledge aspect of the soul to the clear pure
light of the divine understanding. When these two factors are
beginning to be
34 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
active, you will have the emergence of true spiritual activity upon the
physical plane, motivated from the high source of the Monad, and
implemented by the pure reason of the intuition.
It will be apparent to you, therefore, that these higher spiritual
faculties can only be brought into play when the bridging antahkarana
is beginning to play its part. Hence the teaching which I am giving on
the construction of the rainbow bridge.
These Rules are in reality great Formulas of Approach, but they
indicate approach to a specific section of the Path and not approach to
the Initiator. I would have you reflect upon this distinction. The "Way
of the Higher Evolution" lies open to the aspirant to the Greater
Mysteries, but he is oft bewildered in the beginning and frequently
questions in his mind the difference between the progress or evolution
of the personality towards soul consciousness and the nature of the
progress which lies ahead and which is essentially different to the
unfoldment of pure consciousness. Had you grasped the fact that
after the third initiation, the initiate is not concerned with
consciousness at all, but with the fusion of his individual will with the
divine will. He is not then occupied with increasing his sensitivity to
contact, or with his conscious response to environing conditions, but is
becoming increasingly aware of the dynamics of the Science of the
Service of the Plan. This distinctive realisation can only come when his
fused and blended personality and soul expression of will has
disappeared in the blazing light of the divine Purpose-a purpose which
cannot be frustrated even if at times delayed, as it has been during the
past fifty-five years. (Written in February, 1943.)
Much of what I have said above will seem meaningless to you
because the finished contact between soul and personality has not
been brought about and the will aspect in manifestation is not yet
understood in its three phases: Personality, Egoic and Monadic. But, as
I have earlier told you, I write for those disciples and initiates who are
now coming into incarnation and who will be in the full flower of their
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 35
consciousness and service at the latter end of this century. But the
effort you make to understand will have its effect, even if the brain
registers it not.
In the last analysis, these Rules or Formulas of Approach are
primarily concerned with the Shamballa or life aspect. They are the
only Formulas or embodied techniques at present extant which have in
them the quality which will enable the aspirant to understand and
eventually express the significance of the words of Christ, "Life more
abundantly." These words relate to contact with Shamballa; the
result will be the expression of the will aspect. The whole process of
invocation and evocation is tied up with the idea. The lesser aspect is
ever the invoking factor, and this constitutes an unalterable law lying
behind the entire evolutionary process. It is necessarily a reciprocal
process, but in time and space it might be broadly said that the lesser
ever invokes the higher, and higher factors are then evoked and
respond according to the measure of understanding and the dynamic
tension displayed by the invoking element. This many fail to realise.
You do not work at the evocative process. That word simply connotes
the response of that which has been reached. The task of the lesser
aspect or group is invocative, and the success of the invocative rite is
called evocation.
When, therefore, your life is fundamentally invocative, then there
will come the evocation of the will. It is only truly invocative when
personality and soul are fused and functioning as a consciously blended
and focussed unit.
The next point which I seek to make is that these Formulas of
Approach or Rules deal with the unfoldment of group consciousness,
because it is only in group formation that, as yet, the Shamballa force
of the will can be tapped. They are useless to the individual under the
new initiatory dispensation. Only the group, under the proposed new
mode of working and of group initiation, is capable of invoking
Shamballa. That is why Hitler, the exponent of the reversed reaction to
Shamballa land consequently the evil reaction) had to gather around
him a group of like-minded people or
36 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
personalities. On the upper are of the evocative cycle (Hitler being the
expression of the invocative are of the Shamballa force) it requires a
group to bring about evocation.
We now come to my third point in relation to the Rules or Formulas
and their objective. They are concerned-above everything else-with
group initiation. They have other applications, but for the present here
lies their usefulness. What, you may ask, is group initiation? Does it
involve the taking of initiation by every member in the group? Can one
person have so extensive an influence that he can hold up or delay or
even prevent (in time and space) the group initiation? The group need
not necessarily contain members who have all taken the same
initiation. By this I mean that the necessary initiation of all the
members simultaneously into the same group development is not
required. Basically, what I am endeavouring to say anent these Rules
has relation to the third initiation-the initiation of the integrated
personality. They necessarily, however, have a correspondence to the
second initiation, and are consequently of more general interest, for it
is that initiation which faces so many aspirants today-the
demonstration of the control of the formidable emotional nature.
I would ask you to think much about this point which I have just
made. Group initiation means that the bulk of the members are
correctly oriented that they are proposing to accept the discipline which
will prepare them for the next great expansion of consciousness, and
that none of them can possibly be deviated from their purpose (note that
word with its first ray or Shamballic implications), no matter what is
happening in their environment or their personal life. You need to
reflect on this if you desire to make the needed progress.
In these short instructions, which aim only at a "tentative indication"
(note that phrase), it is not necessary to enter into explicit details. In
any case, if the Formulas or Rules are not intuitively clear to your
minds, anything I could say would only hinder and frustrate my
purpose.
Finally, these Formulas or Rules are susceptible of
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 37
three forms of application or interpretation and I would have you
remember this, because you can thereby discover where your individual
focus of attention is and if you are consequently functioning as an
integrated personality. Remember always that only an integrated
personality can achieve the needed soul focus. This is a fundamental
requirement. These three forms of application are physical, emotional
and mental in nature. But those words in their simplest connotation
have true reference to the task of achieving one or other of the higher
initiations. The only way their significance can truly appear is by
grasping the following meanings:
1. The physical application refers to the usage by the group of the
given knowledge and intuitively perceived information in such a way
that the needs of the larger group, of which the group itself is a part,
are constructively served. The consummation of this ideal is to be
found in the activity of the Hierarchy itself which, from progressive
point to progressive point, finds itself in the position of intuitive
interpreter and force transmitter between the centre of Shamballa and
Humanity. The individual initiate, on the way to one or other of the
higher initiations, has in his lesser degree to achieve the same dual
function and thereby fit himself for the wider cooperation.
2. The emotional application has definite reference to the world of
meaning, interpreted in a group sense. At present, well-meaning
aspirants are satisfied if they are able to interpret their personality
conditions, events and happenings in terms of their real meaning. But
that still remains an individual reaction. The aspirant who is seeking
to comprehend these Rules is more interested in seeing the situations
which he contacts in terms of a world whole, and in searching for their
meaning in terms of their group significance. This serves to
decentralise him and to convey into his consciousness some aspect of
that larger whole, and this in its turn contributes to the expansion of
the consciousness of humanity as a whole.
38 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS
3. The mental application has to be grasped and considered in terms
of the "great light." It must be remembered that the mind is the organ
of illumination. Therefore it might be asked: Do the united mental
processes of the group as a whole tend to throw light on human
problems and situations? How much does the light of the individual
group member aid in this process? How much light do you, as an
individual, register and therefore contribute to the greater light? Is the
group light a dim flicker or a blazing sun?
Such are some of the implications lying behind the use of these
familiar words, and the careful consideration of their meaning might
bring about a definite expansion of consciousness. This expansion
normally follows certain clear and definite stages:
1. A recognition of the goal. This goal is often expressed under the
word "the door." A door permits entrance into some place larger than
the area covered by the standing room of the would-be initiate. This
statement refers to the "door of incarnation" through which the
incarnating soul enters into life-limited and restricted from the angle
of the soul. The door of initiation admits "into a larger room" or sphere
of extended expression.
2. The approach, under regulated and imposed and well-tried rules,
of the entering one towards a visioned goal. This involves conformity to
that which has been tried, known and demonstrated by all previous
initiates.
3. The arresting of the steps of the initiate before the door in order
that he may "prove himself to be initiate" prior to entry.
4. The passing of certain tests in order to demonstrate fitness.
5. Then comes the stage of entrance-under due and set rules and
yet with full freedom of action. You will see, therefore, why ever the
need for understanding is emphasised.
Before proceeding to study the final phrases of Rule
THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 39
One, I would call your attention to the fact that the initiate has faced
two major tests, symbolically described as "the burning ground" and the
"clear cold light." Only after he has successfully passed these can he-or
the group, when considering group initiation-move forward and
outward into the wider reaches of the divine consciousness. These
tests are applied when the soul grips the personality and the fire of
divine love destroys the loves and desires of the integrated personality.
Two factors tend to bring this about: the slow moving forward of the
innate conscience into greater control, and the steady development of
the "fiery aspiration" to which Patanjali* makes reference. These two
factors, when brought into living activity, bring the disciple into the
centre of the burning ground which separates the Angel of the
Presence from the Dweller on the Threshold. The burning ground is
found upon the threshold of every new advance, until the third
initiation has been taken.